Delinquent, Dearest
by Procrastinating Penguin
Summary: /"No one makes my Aoko cry." Slight AU. //KA//
1. Oops

**Delinquent Dearest**

_Disclaimer: If it were April Fools, I'd say that DCMK is mine. Sadly, it is not, so I can't even claim pretend ownership through said joke. Alas, I do not own._

When she got the phone call, Kuroba Shiori dropped her plate of green eggs and ham on the floor.

An hour later, the mother of one found herself walking down the all the too-familiar-path of Ekoda Elementary, winding through two right turns before arriving at the Principal's office. After rapping on the door twice politely, the door swung open to reveal a stone-faced bald man dressed in a suit two decades out-of-date. A small dark-haired boy was sitting behind the desk, kicking his legs nonchalantly in the air while the teacher - a nervous-looking woman who Shiori recognized from the parent-teacher meeting two weeks ago - was wringing a handkerchief anxiously in the corner.

"Kuroba-san, please, have a seat." The principal (What was his name again? Something like Nezumi Otearai, Shiori recalled dimly) shuffled to the side and gestured to a chair next to the boy.

"Thank you." Shiori took her place beside her son. The boy didn't stop whistling, but his shoulders tensed for a fraction of an inch as her eyes swept over his dirt-smeared cheeks. His hair seemed to be in more of a disarray than when he left the house that morning.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't discuss the incident over the phone, Kuroba-san. But we thought it best for the boy to tell you what happened in his own words." Otearai sank into his seat across the table. He folded his hands carefully under his chin, eyes narrowed as they zeroed in on the boy. The boy stared right back, almost tauntingly so as the corner of his lips drew upward.

"Kaito?" Shiori turned toward her son with a frown.

"Hakuba deserved it." The dark-haired boy said easily, untangling a piece of what appeared to be - _pink confetti? _(Shiori could feel the dread stirring in her stomach) caught in his bangs.

"What do you mean -"

"_Did you mean to say_," Otearai interrupted roughly, his voice wobbling from trying to suppress (and failing miserably) the volume. "That Hakuba Saguru deserved to have all his hair dyed blue?"

Kaito stared right back at the man's quivering jowls.

"Yes."

"The Hakuba-kun deserves to have his hair dyed blue _and_ a clown's nose super-glued to his forehead?"

"Yeah."

Otearai's cheeks were reddening. "And that he also deserved to be shoved onto the podium during the middle of the morning assembly, wearing nothing but his underpants?"

There was a pause. Then, as brightly as if someone had turned on a lightbulb, Kaito grinned. "Well, he is always going on about how famous his father is. I imagine that he would want to follow in his father's footsteps."

"NONSENSE!" Otearai thundered, thumping his fist against the table. Lunging from his chair, his many chins trembling with anger as Otearai got right into boy's face, the man jabbed one thick finger millimetres from the boy's eyes. Kaito didn't flinch. "_You _did it - I don't know how and I don't know why - I _saw_ that cloud of pink smoke - you were laughing -"

"So did everyone else!" the boy protested, but his voice was quickly drowned out as Otearai thundered on.

"- I _don't _care where that pink smoke come from but it was you - you and your magic tricks! Think it was funny, did you, humiliating a Hakuba? You little -" the man's hand closed in on the boy.

"_Otearai-san_!" Shiori shouted, wrapping one arm protectively around Kaito and yanking him backwards. Horrified, the teacher leaped from the corner and wrangled the red-faced man back into his seat.

"HE DID IT_!_ It couldn't have been anyone else -"

"Otearai-san," Shiori said coldly. "Do you have _any_ evidence incriminating my son?"

The man, obviously unprepared for such a question, stumbled back into his chair with a dull _plop_, the lids of his eyes drew back in surprise. Then, realizing how foolish he must've appeared, he coughed loudly, adjusting his tie with one hand, and swept one daggered glare toward the boy.

"Well - obviously Kaito-kun used some sort of magic trick -"

"So no one actually saw him in the act?" Shiori pressed on impatiently.

"Well, no."

"So as far as you know, my son didn't do it -"

"OF COURSE HE DID!" Otearai exploded once more, forgetting his place and shot up from the chair, drawing up to his full height. Which, burdened by the excess girth of middle age, the intimidation was somewhat lessened by an uncanny resemblance to the Pillsbury dough boy. Jabbing a finger right at the boy's unwavering eyes, he shouted, "_Who else in the school is doing coin tricks and pulling rabbits from hats all the time? _It's you, Kuroba Kaito! Just admit it! You think it was all for a laugh, did you? Think that we're just going to let you off the hook for playing your little practical joke on a Hakuba? _Think again _-"

"_Oh, I see_, so it's the child whose parents donates the most money to school that gets justice, is it?" Feeling her temper flare, Shiori pushed off from her chair, all 5-foot-5 of rage of her towering before the balding man.

"Don't give me that - you know as well as I do that the brat is guilty-"

"Innocent until proven otherwise, Otearai! Or perhaps your memory is fading as easily as your hair? "

There was a shocked pause. "That's neither here or there -"

"I -"

The voice was so small, but so familiar that both parties fell silent at once, panting. Kaito had drawn his hands into his lap. With a knot in her throat Shiori noticed that her son's face had paled. The boy was looking down at his lap. He looked uncertain... vulnerable, almost. Otearai's face lit up with glee with once.

"What is it, boy?"

"I... I..."

"You did it." A glistening goblet of spit quivered excitedly on the man's lip. "You pulled the pranks on Hakuba, didn't you, boy?"

With a quiet sigh, Kaito hugged his arms to himself, averting their eyes. Shiori felt her heart wrench. "Kaito - " she called out.

"Say it already!" Otearai snapped.

"I... I think..."

Shiori clenched her fists, feeling the cold sweat seep through her palms.

"Kaito -"

"I think -" And suddenly - as brightly as if it had never gone out, the Cheshire grin was right back on the boy's face. Absolute mischief sparkling in his blue, blue eyes as he looked right at the balding man, Kaito beamed. "I think I can see your nose hair, Otearai-san."

---

"So, are you going to tell me or do I have to fish it out of you?"

It was late afternoon when they came out of the school, the double doors clanging shut behind in their wake. The last vestiges of daylight bathed everything in a warm orange glow. In the distant, younger children clamoured on the playground, their shoes crunching merrily on the pebbled soil. Shiori peered down at her son, who suddenly became very interested in his shoelaces, his head conveniently coiled away from her gaze.

"_Kaito_."

"Hmm...urg...hm."

Shiori let a moment of silence pass them by. Then, in a voice so quiet it was almost swept away by the autumn breeze, the boy whispered,

"No one makes my Aoko cry."

Shiori blinked, slightly taken back at the way the boy's shoulders had stiffened, almost defiantly, at the words, the determined glint at the corner of his eyes. Opening her mouth, searching for the right words in her head even as she was doing so, Shiori was about to formulate a reply when footsteps echoed sharply on the road behind them. A flurry of dark brown hair passed by - and in the next moment it threw itself at the boy, topping both of them onto the ground.

"_Kaito_!"

"Oomph... God, Aoko - what are you trying to do? Kill me?"

The mess of dark brown locks raised itself from the crook of the boy's neck, revealing two red cheeks and blue eyes that still looked a little pink. With a hiccup, the girl leaned back from the boy, clutching and pawing at his face and arms worriedly.

"Oh my God, I can't believe what you did to Hakuba-kun - what did the principal say? You didn't get into too much trouble, did you? Keiko said that Otearai-san was livid and that you might get expelled because Hakuba-kun's has an uncle or on the school board or something – oh, Kaito, it's all my fault, I'm so sorry…" The girl blubbered, half of the words merging into one big slur as her voice thickened with tears once more.

"It's nothing. No, I didn't get expelled. That old toad can't prove anything against me – sheesh, I'm the one who got into trouble and _you_'re crying?" Catching Shiori's eyes, who had a rather amused expression on her face, Kaito scowled. Taking the hint, Shiori raised an eyebrow, lips curling into a knowing smirk. Resisting the urge to giggle, Shiori raised one finger and slid it across her throat, rolling her eyes before taking her leave, stealing stealthily down the stony steps and left her son with his best friend.

"Stupid – _idiot_– Kaito – You shouldn't have - it's all my fault…"

"I'm _fine_, Aoko. It's all right… don't cry, c'mon," Kaito said softly, feeling his cheeks heat up as the girl buried her head into the crook of his neck. He could feel the front of his sweater dampening. "Aoko, c'mon – Hakuba got what he deserved, don't… don't cry over that jerk."

"Idiot!" Red-eyed, Aoko drew back and punched the boy on the arm. "I'm crying because of _you_!"

"Me?"

"You!"

"_Me_." He repeated, incredulous.

"Yes, _you_!" Drying her tear-streaked cheeks with the back of her sleeve, Aoko gave the boy's chest another thump. "Who know what Otearai-san could've done to you? You could've gotten suspended… or even ex_-expelled_…"

The possibility hadn't even crossed his mind (but then again, consequences of that nature rarely did), but now it hung, tense and heavy in the air. Silence lapsed between them. Aoko looked down at her lap.

"I don't… I don't want you to get kicked out of school. Then you'd have to move... move away from me."

From a distance, there was a sudden burst of high-pitched laughter as a boy, failing to catch his prey in a game of tag, ran smack into a pole.

"I'm not going anywhere," Kaito said lightly.

"Hm." The girl sniffed. "Good."

They sat like that a while. Then, suddenly realizing how close they were facing each other, Aoko hastily pushed away from the boy and scrambled to her feet. She was still sniffing. Kaito watched his best friend wiping the last of the tears from her cheeks with the back of her sleeve. Aoko looked up; their eyes met. Feeling an unexplained heat spread from his cheeks, Kaito quickly looked away.

"You won't get in trouble at home, will you?" Aoko asked tentatively.

"I can handle it," Kaito said, making his voice as nonchalant as possible. His father would understand the motive behind his prank, as for his mother, well... he still had _a lot_ of explanation to do.

"Aoko?"

"Hm?" the girl sniffed.

"The fish market isn't open on Tuesdays... right?"

**A/N: Wow, it's been awhile since I've last updated, isn't it? I apologize for not getting back to all the lovely people who had reviewed my stories. Life is hectic right now, so please excuse the penguin for lagging on her updates. Rest assured that every review is read and very much appreciated!**

**And this was originally meant to be a Valentine fic. But hey, Feb 16. can be just as romantic as Feb. 14! ^^**

**Happy Reading~!**


	2. To Kiss a Booboo

**Chapter Two: To Kiss a Boo-boo**

_Disclaimer: I do not own MK/DC. Just the horrors that happen here._

"Idiot, baka, ahou, stupid, you could've gotten killed - "

"Ow, ow, ow, Aoko, not so hard - "

"Hmph!"

Wincing, Kaito watched as Aoko tore open another package of band-aid and pulled off the adhesive paper. With a frown, the young woman leaned over and carefully plastered the band-aid right over a cut under his eye. Her touch was tender as her fingers worked carefully to smooth out any potential air bubbles. Kaito could feel the heat of her breath on his cheeks.

"Does it hurt a lot?" Gently, Aoko's finger reached up, tracing over the large bruise on his cheekbone, resting on the darkening arc under his left eye. He clenched his fists, trying not to flinch.

"Not really," Kaito dismissed lightly.

"Good." And there, she punched him right on the shoulder. Hard. Kaito cried out.

"Hey, what was _that_ for?" Scowling, the young man rubbed his shoulder. God, sometimes his best friend was a complete beast.

"For picking a fight in the bar," Aoko snapped. She took out the iodine that she had bought from a nearby pharmacy and a wad of tissues. The crimson liquid blossomed like a rose on the white paper. "Hold out your arm."

"It's not that big of a cut - "

"Arm. _Now."_

Turning his eyes away from the sight to come, Kaito surrendered his limb with a soft sigh. A sharp hiss escaped his gritted teeth as white-hot pain stab through his forearm. It dove right through the wound, digging a knife through the nerves and gnawing at the flesh nearby. He could hear Aoko click her tongue disapprovingly at the angry red welt. Finally, the gentle pressure of tissues eased onto the pain. Soaking it up. He exhaled.

"The guy was twice your size, Kaito, what were you _thinking_?"

Aoko brushed away a strand of hair from his forehead, running a finger over a tender spot just above his right eyebrow. Kaito could see the anxiety in her eyes. It was so stupid - but he couldn't help but felt himself grin.

_Thump._

"Ow - Aoko!"

"It's not funny, Kaito! If Takagi-san hadn't been nearby... God, Kaito, that man broke the top off his beer bottle. You could've been seriously hurt."

Kaito grunted, not bothering to word a reply. To be honest, he didn't know what he was thinking at the time, either. It had been a rather uneventful night out on the town. They were just about to leave when Aoko got up and excused herself to go to the washroom. She had to wade through a crowd of raucous men to get to the other side of the club. The door had barely swung close behind her when the men broke into a loud quarrel of what they would've give to bed the tousled-haired woman. Kaito had never been the one to use his fists. But after overhearing the exchanges he saw_ red_. The next thing he knew, the bowl of peanuts had sailed across the room and hit the leader right on the back of his tattooed head. The pub fell deadly silent as the bowl dropped onto the ground with a loud clatter. So slowly it was almost if they were in a horror movie, the man turned his thick, vein-studded head. His eyes bloodshot with alcohol and murder.

It was clear how the fight was going to end before it had begun. Kaito had never seen so many stars in his life. Funny, leave the astrophysicists to search the stars in the sky when you can count them all with just one good _crack_ of skull against table.

"Let's go home."

Kaito felt himself being lifted up from the curb. Aoko had slung one of his arms on her shoulders. Stumbling a bit, Kaito carefully balanced himself on the young woman.

"You okay?" Aoko asked, her voice soft.

"Yeah."

"You can lean on me more, you know."

Kaito felt his cheeks heat up. "I'm fine."

Slowly, they began to amble down the street, him limping. A few times Kaito thought he was going to fall, but Aoko's grip on him always tightened in time and held him back. After a while they fell into a rhythm; their mismatched footsteps the only sounds echoing down the empty streets.

"...Kaito?"

"Hmmm."

"Does it still hurt a lot?"

He hesitated for a fraction of a heartbeat. "No."

"Liar."

Just as he was about to dignify that with a response, Aoko tilted her head up, capturing his lips in a kiss. It was light and airy - like a butterfly wing. All too soon she pulled away. Aoko's cheeks were flushed bright pink; her lips pursed halfway between a smile and a grin.

"Feel better now?"

"Hm, I don't know," Kaito grinned. "I think I need something stronger than that." His hand, which had been innocuously draped over the girl's shoulder, wondered ever so stealthily downward...

_Thwack_.

"Ow, _Aoko_ - "

"Don't push it, mister."

**A/N: Fluff~ ^^. Ah, I need a good dose of KA fluff right now. Has anyone seen the newest trailer of DC movie 14? I'm absolutely petrified at the possibility that KID might kiss Ran. Someone tell the panicking Penguin that it's not true!!**

**On another note, I'm posting all information about upcoming updates on my profile. So if anyone's interested, it'll all be on there.**

**As always, happy reading~**


	3. Way Back Home

**Chapter Three: Way Back Home**

_Childhood_

_Disclaimer: Don't own._

_**A/n: So I've decided that "Delinquent, Dearest" would be a loosely assembled compilation of Kaito/Aoko's coming-of-age tales. Since I'm taking liberty of the timeline here, I'll be stating the age they're in at the beginning of each chapter. Hope that clears things up. ^____^**_

It was LATE.

Kuroba Shiori glanced up at the clock for the twenty-third time that night, her finger tap-tapping on the coffee mug in her hands. The coffee was cold; the cream coagulated; the thinnest whisper of a crack splintering across the china, at the place where her nail kept tap-tapping away.

8:05.

8:06.

Where. the. hell. was. _He?_

8:08.

With a loud sigh Shiori plopped herself down back onto the couch, picked up the television remote and started flipping through the channels. The flickering colours bathed the room in a rainbow of alternating pale blue and whites. She had only kept two lights on - one in the living room and one out on the porch. The telephone was a hand's reach away; the phone book, well-thumbed, lying open right beside it. Kaito wasn't at school. (Of course not. It was the last place he would wonder off to. But she was desperate.) He wasn't at Takeda's. He wasn't at Hiroshi's. He wasn't at Nakamori's.

And neither was Aoko.

That, perhaps, was what gave Shiori her first clue to where her little ichthyophobe had gone off to. Kaito, a broken curfew, _and_ a missing Aoko? That led to _so_ many possibilities it almost frightened her. Kaito loved his "adventures"; Aoko, despite being two and half heads more sensible than the boy, was weak against the former's clever persuasions. It wasn't the first time they had gone on one of their "adventures" and forgot the time. But Kaito never arrived home this late. Ginzo was practically hysterical on the phone, envisioning vicious, drooling kidnappers equipped with three heads, hooks for hands, and who-knew-what-else until Shiori, almost shouting herself hoarse to talk over the man's frantic babbling, finally brought the inspector back down to coherence. She had convinced him to wait _just_ a little while longer before siccing the whole KID task force on the city. Kaito always come home. And if there was one that that Shiori knew about her son, it was that the boy would never let any harm come to his best friend. They probably lost track of the time.

Though, of course, she had half a mind of jumping into a squad car herself, flick on the lights, grab a bullhorn and scream for her son to come home right _now_. Shiori had always thought herself as an easy-going mother; but Kaito was pushing it too far if he thought she was going to be okay with him running around the city at night. With Aoko, no less. God bless the fishermen - she was going to clean them out of stock come Tuesday morning.

8:35.

_Click._

The door. Quietly, Shiori muted the television. Her ears perked, catching the miniscule squeak of the door opening. Tiny footsteps. Slyly stealing through the door. _Click._ Door closed.

The lamp was dim. Her back was to him. She could almost hear the boy inhale, holding his breath, trying to sneak upstairs without detection. Shiori felt one corner of her lips twitch.

"Stop. Right. There."

She could almost hear the breath shudder to a stop in his throat. Slowly, setting the cold coffee mug on the table, Shiori stood up from the couch, one hand smoothing over the crease in her skirt as she did so. The tension in the room thick, almost suffocating.

Excellent.

"Mom, I -"

"Where were you?"

"I was -"

"Do you have any idea how worried Nakamori-san and I were?"

"I didn't mean -"

"You didn't call. Aoko didn't go home. Nakamori-san was out of his mind worrying about where Aoko was.

"Think carefully before you speak, Kaito. You have three minutes to explain where, how, why, and what you were doing. If your excuse does not justify you breaking your curfew and putting your mother's heart through the wringer, you will not take a step out of this house, other for school, for the next 3 months."

They were facing each other now. Shiori could see the terror and dread setting in Kaito's eyes. His dark hair was more tousled than usual. His shirt, other than the wide smear of dirt running down from one shoulder to the other, was intact. His pants weren't so lucky - the edges were shredded and caked with mud. Shiori lifted one eyebrow.

"Ahem," Kaito cleared his throat. "Well."

"Uh-huh."

"Aoko and I were on the way home, when we, er, fell."

"...You _fell_."

Kaito swallowed. "Yeah. Well, okay, we were on our way home from school when we spotted this rabbit running down the street. It looked as if it was rushing to someplace. Like, you know, as if it had somewhere important to be. So Aoko and I decided to go after it. So we followed the rabbit to this giant tree - and suddenly, it disappeared!" He threw up his arms, a look of utter bewilderment straining his boyish features. Shiori stifled an eye twitch. "We started looking for the rabbit when we discovered a hole, right under the tangled roots."

"Uh-huh."

"So, Aoko and I fell into the hole. By accident," Kaito added quickly. "We fell right through this tunnel and it was _crazy_. There were all sorts of stuff floating in midair - books, drawers, clocks, books, _socks_. It felt ages had gone by when we finally landed on something. And we were in this hallway. There were like, hundreds of doors on each side. We tried to get out, but all the doors were locked."

"Kaito..."

"Well, there was this _one_ key. But it was small; there was only one door that we could fit it into. And that door was only as big as my hand. We were stuck. It was then Aoko found a bottle named 'Drink Me.'"

"_Kaito._.."

"We didn't know if the stuff inside was safe to drink. Aoko thought it was poison; she wanted to throw it away. But we had to get out of there _somehow_. So I took a chance and drank it. It tasted_ awful_." Kaito pulled his face down. "Argh. Anyways, the potion made me _shrink_. I shrank and shrank until I became thiiiiiiiis little." The boy held up his thumb and his index finger, pushing down on the two until there was only a silver of air in-between. "I took the tiny key and unlocked the door. I could fit the door! But then Aoko started crying because she was still big - "

"_Kaito_. "

"And I couldn't leave Aoko by herself. So I started searching for another bottle of potion. But instead I found a cake labeled 'Eat Me' - "

"KAITO!"

"And-then-Aoko-accidentally-tripped-and-her-shoes-clicked-twice-and-then-we-were- back-home." Kaito swallowed, suddenly aware of the murderous aura radiating off his mother. Sheepishly, he smiled up at Shiori. "... We didn't mean to break curfew, honest."

Shiori sighed. Bringing a hand up to rub her suddenly throbbing temples, she surveyed her dark-haired boy with a weary look. "So that's happened, is it?"

"Yeah."

"So if I phone Nakamori-san right now, he wouldn't be hysterical because his daughter was led to some wild, ridiculous ghost hunt at Teitan Elementary?"

"Um." Kaito swallowed.

"Room. Now. You're grounded."

"But, mom - "

"_No_."

Sulking, Kaito went up to his room, purposely dragging out each step so the stairs creaked noisily in protest. Rolling her eyes, Shiori slumped back onto the couch, throwing up an arm over her pinched brows.

Boys would be boys, she supposed. Though some days, she really wished that she had a nice, sensible girl instead.

Suddenly, from behind her, there was another sly_ creak_ from the door. The crisp jingle of keys being slid slyly into the pocket.

"Stop right there."

An audible gulp.

"And where the hell were _you_." Voice sweet as honey, Shirori turned around to face her pale-faced husband. "Toichi, _dear_?"

"Um..." The mustached man gulped. Trying to tug his black coat over the small corner of white peeking beneath. He held up one gloved hand. "Shirori. I can explain."

The mother of one raised an eyebrow. Waiting.

"So, um, ahem... on my way home, I spotted this rabbit running down the street-"

**A/N: Like father... like son. Reviews are love!**


	4. Hide and Seek

**Chapter Three: Hide and Seek**

_ Bam. _

Frontdoor slammed_. Thump thump thump_. Angry footsteps. Eyebrows raised, Nakamori Ginzo peered over the protective shelter of his newspaper, just in time to see his red-faced, red-nosed, muddy-kneed daughter storm through the front hall and thud-thud-thuding straight up the stairs.

"Aoko?"

Thwack. Bedroom door slammed.

_Hic_.

The sound of nose-blowing.

Setting his newspaper down, Ginzo glanced down at his watch.

5.

4.

3.

2 -

_Ding dong._

Just like clockwork, Ginzo thought dryly, getting up from the couch with a weary sigh. He strolled toward the door, taking the time to relish in the mental anguish that he knew - from a reservoir of experience that was way too rich for his liking - was building up right on the other side on the porch.

He opened the door.

" Kaito-kun."

"Good afternoon, Nakamori-san." The dark-haired boy was wringing a baseball cap nervously in his hands, smiling sheepishly. "Um, is Aoko - "

"Upstairs." With a gruff grunt, Ginzo gestured behind him.

"Thanks, Nakamori-san."

The boy practically tore through the doors. Mid-way up on the stairs, Ginzo cleared his throat loudly. "Oh, Kaito-kun?"

Kaito froze immediately. "Yes, Nakamori-san?"

"Half the fun in playing hide-and-seek is the finding the other person. Do make an effort not to hide so well that Aoko thinks you've disappeared or gone home early next time, will you, Kaito-kun?"

"Yes, sir."

"Hm."

With that, Kaito was about to leap up the last flight of stairs when Ginzo cleared his throat noisily again. "Oh, and Kaito-kun?"

"Sir?"

"How good are you at dodgeball?"

"Um," Kaito hesitated. "I do pretty well... I think."

Ginzo smiled sympathetically.

"Good."


End file.
